CANBERRA, ACT, June 16 -- The Treasurer of Australia issued the following transcript:
Note
Subjects: interest rates, fuel excise, tax reform legislation
Jim Chalmers:
Today the Reserve Bank held interest rates steady at 4.35percent. This is reassuring in the face of all of this global economic volatility. It's a welcome reprieve for millions of Australians with a mortgage. It doesn't make life any easier for people, but it doesn't make life harder either. We welcome this decision from the independent Reserve Bank to keep rates steady.
This is the first interest rates decision since the very responsible Budget that we handed down not that long ago. And since then, we've seen some very welcome developments in the Middle East as well. In ...